TOKYO: Shabash! Sha-bash! (Well done! Well done!) kept reverberating at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium Stadium as Bhavinaben Patel rallied for each point against Ying Zhou of China in the women’s table tennis singles class 4 gold medal match.

Behind the voice was her husband Nikul Patel, who was vociferously trying to egg his wife on to weather the onslaught from her Chinese opponent, who had much of the fire power to clinch gold in straight games 11-7, 11-5, 11-6.

However, for the country of 1.3 billion where medal haul at major events like the Games have come in a trickle, these are times of change.

Patel’s silver on the occasion of National Sports Day in India was the perfect recipe that could trigger a movement for people with disabilities where accessibility and support is a major issue.

The phones immediately started ringing non-stop for the Paralympic Committee of India officials, who were seen trying to outwit each other to grab a piece of Patel for media sound bites.

For a woman coming from a small sleepy village in Gujarat, this success is a fairy tale laced with nothing but hardwork and the will to excel.

“I’m extremely delighted to win a medal but also a bit disappointed as well. I got a bit nervous,” said Bhavinaben, who also lost to the same opponent in the league fixture.

“I can only assure you that next time I meet her you will see a different me. She clearly got the better of me and had all the shots in her book to outsmart by effort. However, this medal will go a long way I can assure you that.

“More importantly, I have set and example for the people with disabilities that nothing is impossible,” Bhavinaben said and added that she also had a point to prove to her detractors.

Five years ago, bureaucracy had played a part in Patel missing the ticket to the Rio 2016 Paralympics and she was completely shattered.

“It took her over three months to get over it,” recalled husband Nikul, adding in the same breath that, he has not seen a more strong-willed woman like his wife and that is what attracted him to her. — Paralympic.org